The "Global War On Terror" Is A Fraud

[Jcrowley]

Terrorized by 'War on Terror'
How a Three-Word Mantra Has Undermined America
By Zbigniew Brzezinski
Sunday, March 25, 2007; Page B01


The "war on terror" has created a culture of fear in America. The Bush administration's elevation of these three words into a national mantra since the horrific events of 9/11 has had a pernicious impact on American democracy, on America's psyche and on U.S. standing in the world. Using this phrase has actually undermined our ability to effectively confront the real challenges we face from fanatics who may use terrorism against us.

The damage these three words have done -- a classic self-inflicted wound -- is infinitely greater than any wild dreams entertained by the fanatical perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks when they were plotting against us in distant Afghan caves. The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare -- political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants.

But the little secret here may be that the vagueness of the phrase was deliberately (or instinctively) calculated by its sponsors. Constant reference to a "war on terror" did accomplish one major objective: It stimulated the emergence of a culture of fear. Fear obscures reason, intensifies emotions and makes it easier for demagogic politicians to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue. The war of choice in Iraq could never have gained the congressional support it got without the psychological linkage between the shock of 9/11 and the postulated existence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Support for President Bush in the 2004 elections was also mobilized in part by the notion that "a nation at war" does not change its commander in chief in midstream. The sense of a pervasive but otherwise imprecise danger was thus channeled in a politically expedient direction by the mobilizing appeal of being "at war."

To justify the "war on terror," the administration has lately crafted a false historical narrative that could even become a self-fulfilling prophecy. By claiming that its war is similar to earlier U.S. struggles against Nazism and then Stalinism (while ignoring the fact that both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia were first-rate military powers, a status al-Qaeda neither has nor can achieve), the administration could be preparing the case for war with Iran. Such war would then plunge America into a protracted conflict spanning Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and perhaps also Pakistan.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/23/AR2007032301613.html?nav=hcmodule

And any piece of legislation or any corporate media that perpetuates this fraud is manipulative rubbish.

[mike_c]

1. it also goes without saying that politicians who cite the GWOT...

...are also perpetuating the fraud.

[leftchick]

2. that would be an awful lot of Democrats

like a whole congress full. :(

[Jcrowley]

4. Have you seen this bill?

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE--MILITARY

MILITARY PERSONNEL

Military Personnel, Army

For an additional amount for `Military Personnel, Army', $8,878,899,000: Provided, That the amount provided under this heading is designated as making appropriations for contingency operations directly related to the global war on terrorism, and other unanticipated defense-related operations, pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. Res. 376 (109th Congress), as made applicable to the House of Representatives by section 511(a)(4) of H. Res. 6 (110th Congress).
Military Personnel, Navy

For an additional amount for `Military Personnel, Navy', $1,100,410,000: Provided, That the amount provided under this heading is designated as making appropriations for contingency operations directly related to the global war on terrorism, and other unanticipated defense-related operations, pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. Res. 376 (109th Congress), as made applicable to the House of Representatives by section 511(a)(4) of H. Res. 6 (110th Congress).
Military Personnel, Marine Corps

For an additional amount for `Military Personnel, Marine Corps', $1,495,828,000: Provided, That the amount provided under this heading is designated as making appropriations for contingency operations directly related to the global war on terrorism, and other unanticipated defense-related operations, pursuant to section 402 of H. Con. Res. 376 (109th Congress), as made applicable to the House of Representatives by section 511(a)(4) of H. Res. 6 (110th Congress).

http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/webreturn/?url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1591:

[LibertyorDeath]

3. Thanks!

A must Read!

Rec!

[LibertyorDeath]

5. Kick for Brzezinski's great analysis

'War on Terror'

"The phrase itself is meaningless. It defines neither a geographic context nor our presumed enemies. Terrorism is not an enemy but a technique of warfare -- political intimidation through the killing of unarmed non-combatants."

[WritersBlock]

6. I'll k&r that. n/t

[LibertyorDeath]

7. In case you are not familiar with the erudite Zbigniew Brzezinski

He is one of the, if not thee brightest geostrategists in the World today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski

[Jokerman]

8. K & R

[RobertSeattle]

9. Bush is the Booga Booga Presidency

Fear.

If that doesn't work, smear.

[bonito]

10. to mobilize the public on behalf of the policies they want to pursue.

Bingo!

[vickitulsa]

11. Highly recommended!

I've been so happy to hear "Zbig," as we called him back in the day, come out with a lot of blatant truth-telling lately.

He wasn't one of my favorite people back then; but unlike so many of the warmongers of those times (Vietnam), Zbig appears to have seen the light of how wrong the entire American venture into Vietnam was in the end.

Sadly, regrettably, horrifyingly, others who were not displeased with war in Southeast Asia -- such as Cheney and Rumsfeld -- and who saw the prospects for financial gain in war, are again figuring largely in the international war scene thanks to the forces of evil that have put Bu$hCo in place.

What they are carrying out now are some giant steps to further the Grand Plot (or "World Power Grab" it should be called) that they've been working on for over four decades!

I believe that eventually most Americans will see the truth of what Zbig writes in this article, but it will not come soon enough to prevent years more of horror and world destabilization.

What the planet's "movers and shakers" (and warmakers, who are the same people, guided by greed for profit no matter how illgotten their gains) fail to anticipate is that any populace grows very weary of war after many years of it.

Even though this maladministration has their corporate media lapdogs firmly in hand (still!), there is simply no way they can keep the majority of Americans -- the families and friends of the soldiers who are fighting their wars of greed -- pumped up for war over the very long haul.

War gets old fast. I recall that as early as two years into the massive deployment of American troops to Vietnam, the protests were growing quite loud and demanding. I was one of those doing a lot of the ranting.

Many "loyal" Americans didn't like the methods of vociferous protesters, but they were tiring of that insane, pointless war and just sick of it by four or five years into it.

I think the repeated history of warmaking by the likes of the neocons is starting to become obvious to a great many citizens in this country. We remind them over and over again that the ones who benefit from constant war are the war profiteers, and eventually they begin to see it for themselves, no matter what we or the media or anyone else says.

Their sons and daughters, or at least their neighbors or fellow churchmembers, come home from Iraq or Afghanistan in flag-draped boxes or as maimed amputees and mental basket cases whose plights tear at the hearts of "Good Americans."

They get sick of it, just sick and tired of the long list of negative impacts on their country and the world. They even begin to feel a little guilty, sometimes, about the many-times-worse horrors inflicted on the citizens of the nations the U.S. wars against!

At some point it all just gets to be too hard to ignore and their enthusiasm for war dwindles down to nothing at all ... and then begins to turn to resentment at those who dragged them into the nightmare in the first place and refuse to end the madness.

This fictitious "global war on terror" is a bit of a different colored horse, since it is primarily an emotional construct devised to allow for literally endless war.

But eventually people will get just as sick and tired of the neverending cries of "Terra terra terra!" and realize that they've been duped. It's not some other country that's wreaking horrors around the world militarily, it's US!

The fear and loathing of America that we've only begun to hear a lot about is going to increase steadily and eventually rise to a crescendo that will appall those fine folk who've been "proud citizens" here for so long, and the light bulb will go on above their heads at last.

What worries me so much is that the "mainstream" media that could be doing so much to speed up this process of enlightenment and resistence by the public is so pliant a tool in the hands of the warmongers themselves. The understanding and resistance which should take only a short while to spread is therefore taking much longer.

I'm very glad at least to see Zbig countering some of the propaganda still being put out there by others of his era like Kissinger!

I hope many will read and listen to the wise words of someone who's "been there done that" and knows whereof he speaks....

[LSK]

12. terrorism is a tactic, like taking a hill during a battle

Randi has been saying this for a while now.